Regular BCC readers know that making biking accessible for all ages, stages and types of people is a key focus for this blog. BCC content loves to celebrate community-based, grassroots implemented and social issue-driven projects, people and events.
So usually, big international commercial trade-shows and exhibitions like the second Dubai International Bicycle Exhibition which was held on 10-12 January don’t usually feature here – so why is it included?
Read on!
What is the DIBE?
This expo is primarily mercantile and retail in nature. It focuses on developing networks, promoting brands (and pro teams), and extending business-to-business exposure. Events like this is where local, regional and international bike companies and manufacturers sell products and services to regional retailers and distributors – and showcase new developments in cycling technology, design and innovation.
This event is the largest professional bicycle exhibition in the Middle East and North Africa. Apparently, over 7,000 visitors, enthusiasts, professional riders and business owners attended. International brands and exhibitors came from Italy, Germany, India, Australia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the United States, China, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.
The event was supported by the royal family and was touted as being ‘the most important cycling business event in the MENA region.’
So what is interesting about the DIBE?
While I was looking at the expo online, two particular features jumped out.
One was the number of female expo representatives/ambassadors (like @jeddah_woman) and that there at least some representation of sustainable/alternative bicycle approaches via India’s Bamusa bicycles.
Small, but productive steps!
Female representation
Jedda_Woman I was very pleased to see @jedda_woman listed as an individual ambassador for this event. This social influencer (Followers: Instagram 7, 343 and Twitter 666 #jeddah_woman1) has been promoting local cycling and organising rides, events, educational/social meet-ups and practice days to get more people on bikes. I was hoping to find out more about what she is doing and contact her, but she has not been on Insta since 27th Nov 2018, or Twitter since 14th Dec 2017. So I will see how I go contacting her.
Velo Vixens The Velo Vixens are a friendly, supportive, enthusiastic group of over nearly 1,000 (predominately expat) women who ride, train and compete. This is a very popular, active and well-organised group who host lots of rides, training and competitions.
Another highlight from the mainstream branded manufacturers at the expo was India’s foremost hand-crafted premium bamboo bike company Godrej Bambusa Bike. It was great to see representation of sustainable materials and alternatives to the big manufacturers/supplies as an option for the usual (overfocus?) on ‘state-of-the-art’ frame design, process and materials like carbon-fibre.
The Banusa company loves to tell the story of two teenagers who undertook an epic 4400 km test ride (on their bikes) which went from Kanyakumari (far south India) across the country and over the Khardung-La Pass (world’s highest road) to north India. Solid as!
2019 Expanded program next year
This year it was just an expo, but next year there are plans to have sessions on bicycle infrastructure, products, innovation, technologies, safety, maintenance, and fitness and nutrition.
There is also talk of including a demo area and a Bicycle Training Workshop Area.
I am hoping that this expo will continue to include and promote the wide range of riders, biking types/codes and diverse organisations that make up our amazing cycling community. We’ll see next year!
This year was full of highs and lows and presented some incredible opportunities.
As we draw to the close of 2018, this is the perfect time to review what worked, what didn’t work, changes that need to be made and what will be the primary focus for 2019.
In previous years, around this time, husband and I have been in Rotorua, New Zealand mountain biking. But this year, we are conserving and consolidating – we are also using the time to experiment with our bike packing gear and setups and using the time to get some kms in the legs.
My next year is going to be dramatically different. In 2019, I’m working on my bicycle PhD full-time, reducing my teaching load drastically and undertaking more bike packing than MTB adventures.
Who knows what new opportunities and challenges will emerge for each of us.
Whatever your experience is, I wish you the best of luck and oodles of positivity in doing what you need and what to achieve in 2019.
If 2019 is going to be anything like 2018, it will be jammed packed full of surprises, tests, success and possibilities.
Remember what happened in 2018?
Here’s a quick recap from online news about the year that was.. remember these?
Internationally
North and South Korea vowed to formally end the Korean War
Cuba announced a new president ending the 59-year Castro leadership
Iraq had its first parliamentary elections since the defeat of ISI int he country
Canada became the second nation in the world, after Uruguay, to legalize marijuana
Mexico is selling its $218.7 million presidential plane to use funds for poor communities
South Korea closed its largest dog meat slaughterhouse
Meghan Markle became the first woman of color to join the British royal family
Human rights
In Saudi Arabia, women are finally able to drive
Ireland voted and repealed its abortion ban
India’s Supreme Court decriminalised consensual gay sex
Scotland became the first country to back teaching LGTBI issues in schools
The “Year of the Woman” went global
Africa saw a huge and significant decline in female genital mutilation
For the first time in Iran, women were allowed to attend wmen’s sporting events
The environment
We discovered 157 new species in Southeast Asia
New Zealand may have killed its oil industry to combat climate change
Major fashion brands united against climate change
A growing number of Americans now believe climate change is happening
Scientists came up with an idea to stop glaciers from melting
British fashion house Burberry says it’ll stop destroying unsold goods and using fur
Scientists developed a plastic-eating enzyme
Health & Science
A woman gave birth to a baby after she received a uterus transplant from a dead person
The UK has exceeded UN targets for HIV diagnosis and treatment, proving efforts to control the epidemic can work
Researchers developed a 10-minutes cancer test
A new Ebola treatment trial began
A new peanut allergy drug has provided fresh hope
A study found dogs can be a powerful tool in diagnosing malaria
Best of luck for 2019!
What ever you plans and goals are for 2019 – I wish you all the best!
While researching how bicycles are used in communities in the Middle East, I came across this story from Israel about Meir Farkash. Farkash has been using his own bicycle as a volunteer bicycle emergency (EMS) responder in Ramat Hasharon (a coastal city located south of Tel Aviv).
I love this story because it showcases how positive one person on a bike can be in a community. I love that Meir is a student, a volunteer, that he has been so incredibly effective at saving lives as a bicycle emergency first-responder, and that now he is somewhat of a community icon as he makes his way around town. What a wonderful example of how cyclists can make significant positive community change. This story was first published in Israel Rescue. Enjoy, NG.
Ramat Hasharon Hesder Yeshiva Student, Meir Farkash (25), is known to be the pinnacle lifesaver of his city. Over the past four years in which Farkash has been a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, Farkash has responded to more than 2,500 emergency calls.
Among his myriad of emergency calls, more than 300 have been life-threatening. What’s even more impressive is that Farkash has responded to all of these calls on his personal bicycle.
In honor of his continued dedication to saving lives, United Hatzalah has given the active volunteer a first response e-bicycle that was donated to the organization for him by the residents of the city to honor Farkash’s selfless work.
Over the past four years, Meir Farkash has become somewhat of a local celebrity in Ramat Hasharon. The image of him pedaling through the streets in order to rush to a scene and save someone’s life is residents of that many residents have come to know and support.
“Today there are lots of people who say hello to me as I pass them on response e-bicycle. I say hello back. I have come to know many residents, and residents of me, through the EMS activities that I undertake and the calls that I respond to,” said Farkash.
The day before Farkash received the bicycle, he saved the life of one of the city’s citizens. He was dispatched to the car of a known lawyer from the city who had lost consciousness while he was with his family. Farkash, who arrived in just moments with his bicycle, began CPR and help resuscitate the man with the Intensive Care ambulance team that arrived at the scene. Farkash joined the ambulance team in transporting the patient to the hospital, and the man was released a few days later, alive and well enough to go home.
When asked if he knew the total number of lives he has saved, Farkash said:
I have never really thought about it. Now that you mention it, it gives me a really good feeling. Truth be told, even calls that are more general and do not involve a life being saved per se, they too give me and other volunteers a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that we helped somebody who needed us.
In every case we respond to, you meet a person who is incapable of helping themselves at that moment. You help them, you comfort them and you make sure they receive the best care that they can. That is the job of being a first responder. It’s not about the glory, it’s about helping people.”
When asked if he knew the total number of lives he has saved, Farkash said that: “I have never really thought about it. Now that you mention it, it gives me a really good feeling. Truth be told, even calls that are more general and do not involve a life being saved per se, they too give me and other volunteers a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that we helped somebody who needed us.
In every case we respond to, you meet a person who is incapable of helping themselves at that moment. You help them, you comfort them and you make sure they receive the best care that they can. That is the job of being a first responder.”
Many of us would love to undertake a month-long challenge.
But work, family and hobby demands often get in the way.
Two days ago, I came across the National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo.
In this event, I saw an opportunity to adopt certain principles of NaNoWriMo to use in an academic context that would not detract time and energy away from my current work/research demands – but would, in fact, be a productivity kick-starter!
What is
NaNoWriMo?
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) happens every year, It is an Internet-based creative writing challenge to write a 50,000-word novel from 1st to the 30th of November.
The National Novel Writing Month website started this challenge in July 1999 with only 21 participants. In 2010, 200,000 people wrote 2.8 billion words and in 2015, 430,000 participants completed 50,000 manuscripts.
This is a great challenge to get inspired, build a regular writing routine, overcome writing anxiety and writer’s block, and also be part of a highly active online community.
Using NaNoWriMo for
academic writing
During NaNoWriMo, it is the length of the draft, not the quality that is the main goal. Editing and polishing the document comes later.
Producing writing is a constant pressure for academics and PhD candidates.
Essentially PhDers are assessed on their writing output. PhDers are required to, at a minimum, produce an 80,000-120,000-word high-quality dissertation and at least one peer-review journal article in order to fulfil their candidature. Having additional publications, conference proceeding and other written documentation are also expected.
That is one of the reasons I started this blog – to force myself to write
regularly.
I love the idea of a writing challenge. I have not been producing as much writing as I did when I first started my research and my usually productive writing routine has slipped.
Although NaNoWriMo is a novel writing challenge, I am going to use it as an opportunity to apply some of its principles to jumpstart my academic writing productivity.
Many NaNoWriMo ideas are transferable to an academic writing challenge.
So I went on an online binge to glean some of the most useful NaNoWriMo approaches.
As an R &D homage to the original NaNoWriMo, I’ve called my initial checklist (below) NiAcaWriMo– or Nina’s Academic Writing Month.
Here’s what I came up with….
NiAcaWriMo
Have all equipment and materials prepared.
This includes working tools like the keyboard, monitors, laptop/desktop, notebooks and any other paraphernalia needed. Delete Netflix or any other distractions. For me, this also meant setting up a dual monitor stand-up desk and putting my laptop in for a service and updating the operating system and all software.
Spring clean and organise your workspace.
To create productive energy and focus, declutter and spring clean your workspace. Clear out any distractions, tidy up or better yet, remove as much as you can out of your workspace to make it a lean and clean studious area. Dust off screens and keyboards, and wipe down any surfaces, IT cords and equipment as recognition that this space is open to new and fresh ideas. Commit to keeping the space clear by not allowing others to put anything in your workspace, clearing your desk at the end of each day and only keeping the basic work materials needed on your desk.
Prepare a soundtrack.
Some people listen to music while working, others prefer silence. Either way, know what kind of soundscape is most productive for you. When I work in an open office, I use ear plugs as well as high-performance ear muffs (a technique I use on public transport as well) if I want quiet and little sound. Or I use headphones with my own soundscape. I have had great success with alpha, beta and gamma binaural beats, which I used to complete a 17,000 minor thesis in four days. Another option is classical or instrumental music with no lyrics. Or have background music in a different language so your brain is not subconsciously engaged with the lyrics, but focused on your written language. For this technique, I’d recommend the French R & B duo Les Nubians album Princesses Nubiennes. Other creatives swear by having the same song on constant repeat which helps to create a consistent and familiar flow state. Find what works best for you.
Tell others about your challenge.
This means getting your significant other/s, family, work colleagues and
friends on board with what you are doing. This will save a lot of misunderstanding
and issues in the future and people will be a lot more understanding and
supportive. If you are upfront with your purpose and time frame, then measures
can be taken to organise and negate possible future complications such as invitations
and drop-in visits and even further to include things such as house cleaning
and grocery shopping.
Protect your focus
For one whole month, you need to make your writing challenge top priority – and this protecting your focus. This step requires you to know what you need to do your best work, what time of day you are most productive and that you put into place strategies to minimise interruptions and stay productive. This can include setting a schedule or a daily timetable. Or read some key literature that is not only inspiring, but is at a standard you wish to achieve. For academic writing, I like to have 3 journal articles that are my gold standard – two by my favourite author in my research field and another on a different topic whose style, expression and vocabulary I really enjoy reading. Another way to protect your focus might is to set your phone to silent and leave it in another room for your sessions. Or use an app to help your focus and build self-control, or a productivity app that helps avoid distractions, like Cold Turkey, which I recommend to postgrad students.
Prepare body and mind
We all know looking after the body and mind is important during intense work bursts, but the challenge is to make it a priority in order to sustain productivity. This includes eating well, being hydrated, taking regular screen breaks, doing regular exercise (until sweaty), getting adequate sleep and generally looking after your overall well-being. Build these elements into your daily schedule to ensure you protect your focus and keep yourself working at the optimal level. Have a look at A Year of Productivityfor other strategies to help prepare the body and mind.
Other NiAcaWriMo considerations
Once prepared, you then need to put it all into action.
This is an area I am still refining. So below is an outline of some tactics I’ve found to be incredibly helpful in consistently producing written work.
Morning Routine: I have had great success using a priming morning routine that I have adapted and personalised over the last three years.
iThinkwell. Over the last two years, I have attended two iThinkwell workshops: Turbocharge your writing and Seven habits of highly successful research students. I still some of the strategies from these workshops. If you get to one of these sessions, get your library to order the companion books which cover the same material so you can still get ahead.
Prepare the next day the night before. One key technique is starting a new day fresh and proactive, is to prepare what you are going to do the next day before you leave your desk the night before. IdentifyingThe Next Thing is a quick and easy way to get a new productive day started without wasting any valuable energy or focus on planning the day, you just get on and do it. Some writers like to leave a question as a stimulus for the next days’ writing session, or dot points that need expanding on, others leave notes to complete, or end the previous day mid-sentence so there is an idea to complete the next day and continue on.
Have a daily goal. I have a PhD friend who has a daily goal of writing 250 words a day. Another academic I know has committed one hour every day for the last five years to writing. Whether it is time, words count, tasks or any other goal, having a clear daily goal is a good way to set the intention for the day, track progress and establish milestones of achievement.
50,0000 words in a 30-day month equals 1,667 words per day.
Take each day separately. Keep in mind that progress is based on day-to-day productivity. Set-backs are inevitable. Don’t be too hard on yourself and be realistic. There will be blow-outs, mess-ups, crappy days and interruptions – this is part of life and work. If you struggle one day, reset and try again the next, but don’t try and catch-up as this adds extra stress. Take each day as a stoned alone session and accept that there will be ‘good days’ and ‘bad days’.
Know what a ‘good day’ looks like. How do you define ‘a good day’ of work? What does it look like? Is it producing a 500-word outline? Or writing 1,500 original new words? Reading a journal article? Having this clarification means that you know when you have achieved it. If this is not clear, you are at risk of ending each day feeling like you have not achieved your goal and could have done more, no matter how much your produce.
Garbage in, garbage out. Be mindful and actively manage what you allow yourself to be exposed to. This includes TV, social media, movies and the news – and also people. Remember the quality of your output is determined by the quality of the input. Read quality literature, reduce media exposure, unplug and read more engaging books.
Acknowledge milestones and reward. As you progress with writing, acknowledge micro-successes and milestones achieved. Having small rewards helps track activity, recognise breakthroughs, monitor improvements and boost motivation.
Writing is not editing. Writing and editing are two different skills, yet many people edit as they write and this can hamper progress and flow. For NaNoWriMo, participants are writing a 50,000-word draft. There is no editing at this stage and this a good idea to keep in mind. Many people get distracted while writing by fact-checking, looking up a definition, searching for a ‘better word’ or stopping to insert an accurate reference as they write. Doing these during the writing phrase inhibits ‘writing flow’ and focus. So the aim is to get ideas in writing down on without stopping to edit.
I use the write fast, edit slow – and theread a bit, write a bit, edit a bit adage to instil the distinction and importance of doing each of these tasks regularly. Another way to achieve the writer’s flow state as advocated by Blindboy is to write with fire, edit with ice.
Next steps
I only
found out about NaNoWriMo this
week, so it was too late to participate this year.
But it has inspired
me to get organised and get back into my writing routine.
Who needs a formal date to write? A month-long writing challenge can be undertaken at any time!
Take this blog post as an example: just writing about this challenge has produced a 2048-word blog post and helped clarify my next steps and preparation for NiAcaWriMo. That in itself is already a valuable and productive writing activity.
As we come up to the
end of the year, I’m gearing up for a NiAcaWriMo challenge in the new year.
And I will certainly
be looking out for NaNoWriMo next November.
So if you have any
kind of writing project, perhaps now it the time to get inspired and create
your own month-long writing challenge to crack the whip and get those important
first words onto paper.
In keeping with the spirit of my recent Vipassana experience, this post introduces the wonderful world of bicycle mandalas. Enjoy! NG.
Mandalas are beautiful Buddhist spiritual representations of the metaphysical universe.
At their core, mandalas are meditation aids.
The most famous mandalas would have to be the large-scale Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas. These intricate and complex mandalas take a team of monks days, or weeks, or more, to create and require constant concentration and care to complete.
But in order to be a mandala, it needs to include some specific design features.
Mandalas have a balanced, repeated geometric design, a consistent colour palette and traditionally include a radial composition.
For many, circular bicycle wheels provide the perfect mandala frame. This is why they are so often in bike art when creating mandalas, dream catchers and other decorations.
The material and techniques used in these mandalas can vary. 2D mandalas use either hand-drawn or computer-assisted graphics, saving time, money and materials, but this approach often requires a certain amount of artistic or technical proficiency.
For 3D mandalas, fabric, cloth and textiles are big favourites, as are glass and mixed- media for the more adventurous.
Colours and designs vary widely and are only limited by the creators imagination, bravery and skill.
Remy Jouve’s bicycle tyre mandala
I got interested in bicycle mandalas after seeing Rémy Jouve’s amazing hand carved bicycle tyre mandala (below) which was sent to me by Claire Tracey.
Skill, patience, thoughtfulness and a whole lotta love!
Epic.
Other Bicycle Mandalas
Then I found a whole heap of them!
Here is a sample of the various hand-make bicycle mandalas.
Watercolour.
Ink Drawing.
Knitted/Macrame (there are heaps of these online).
And a few mixed media.
And some digitally assisted bicycle mandalas.
Regardless of the material or medium used, bicycle mandalas are unique, creative, quirky and fun.
They are a great way cyclists can support artists as well as showing their love for all things two-wheeled.
Keep your eyes open for your favourite bicycle mandala.
I’ve just returned from my first 10-day silent Vipassana meditation course.
Lots of people have heard of Vipassana meditation. Some of you may have already done a course ( … or two… or more). If you haven’t heard of Vipassana, ask your friends about it – you will hear some VERY interesting stories.
I’ve been struggling to write this post.
I am not yet ready to share the ins-and-outs of what happened. Besides, there is no point reinventing the wheel – there is some much Viapassna info already widely and readily available on YouTube (full of advice and recounts) and online.
If you want more details on what the course is, my recommended two best personal Vipassana recounts are:
So, without getting stuck on the nitty-gritty details of my experience, here’s a brief Vipassana snapshot.
What is Vipassana?
Understanding Vipassana is not difficult. It is the consistent practice that is the hard part. Overall, there are three central pillars: Sila (morality), Samadhi (control of the mind) and Panna (wisdom).
Vipassana means “to see things as they really are”.
The course is based on the teachings of Buddha but is linked to not Buddhism or any other religion. It is universal teaching, not secular. And it is not a cult.
The course requires students to live-in for 10 days and adhere to a monastic code of conduct, which includes (among others) avoiding all the following: speaking, eye contact, gesturing, touching, technology/mobile phone, reading, writing, exercise and the genders are segregated
Epic.
So what was it like?
It was a rollercoaster ride. Many ups. Many downs.
There were 26 women on my course, 4 left.
The timetable is intense. The commitment is intense. The location is beautiful.
I LOVED noble silence. I LOVED the early starts.
It was physically and mentally very challenging.
I learnt a lot about trust, compassion and letting go.
I learnt to notice and accept change (Annicca).
The stunning food and nightly discourses were daily highlights.
During the course, my awareness sharpened, I managed to slow down the noise in my head, and had the time to really focus being in the present moment.
Other thoughts…
Vipassana helps people (re)connect with the body by observing the interactions between the mental (mind/thinking) and the material (body/sensations).
The Vipassana technique is immediately useful and transferable to all other aspects of life (not just meditation), especially in the case of managing emotions such as fear, attachment, desire and pain.
The benefits of Vipassana are not only personal. As a bike rider, I have been applying it to my bike riding and there is a significant change in my approach to MTBing.
When I got back home from my course, I did what any normal contemporary bike-riding Vipassana student would have done: I made love with my husband, ate a gorgeous lunch, went for a mountain-bike ride, then meditated. Priorities.
As regular readers of this blog know, I post a little about teaching and my PhD progress, but mainly, this blog shares ideas, events and research where bicycles are creating positive community change. The story below from Mexico City (first published by Citylab Latino, then translated into English by Andrea Penman-Lomeli for Citylab) definitely fits the bill. It is exciting to see strong advocacy and support for cycling in the more challenging-to-ride urban cities. Earlier this year I posted on the difficulties of riding in Kampala, Uganda. Now, Mexico City has been making news by progressing cycling in Latin America with their first ever Bicycle Mayor. Bicicletas de larga duración!!
Cycling Mexico City: Background
Mexico City falls far short of the cycling infrastructure that bike activists dream of: as many residents say, it’s no Amsterdam. Although only 30 percent of daily trips in the city are made via private car (the other 70 percent are made by public transportation, by bike, or on foot), Mexico City is known for some of the worst traffic in the world and nearly toxic levels of pollution. Since 2006, there have been over 1,600 cyclist deaths.
Because of these deterrents, cycling activism has been two-fold, lobbying city authorities to integrate cycling infrastructure into the urban plan and promoting a cycling culture among city residents.
In the last decade, cycling has become especially relevant to the city’s agenda. In 2007 the city launched Muévete en Bici, a program that blocks cars from several main streets on Sundays so that cyclists can have the streets to themselves. In 2010, Mexico City implemented a bike share program, EcoBici, the first in Latin America.
Current cycling context in Mexico City
So far, the city’s only got 140 kilometers of the 600 kilometers of bike lanes that bike activists estimate it needs, but when EcoBici started, the city was virtually devoid of biking infrastructure. Ecobici now has around 6,500 bikes and over 240,000 registered users (which, they argue, is the largest in North America).
In July 2014, a new mobility law placed cyclists and pedestrians at the top of a mobility hierarchy and introduced cycling language into urban plans for the first time. However, beyond moving into the next phases of EcoBici and implementing sorely needed safety measures, the plans were vague—plus, critics challenge the special hierarchy, noting that if cyclists were truly at the top, government infrastructure spending would reflect that.
The first Latin-American Bike Mayor
Mexico City has a long way to go before it’s truly bike-friendly, but now, the city has a bike mayor—the first in all of Latin America. During the 2017 Sixth Annual World Bicycle Forum, the activist Areli Carreón was elected to the post by forum attendees in an online election. In addition to promoting cycling, she will act as an intermediary between cyclists, community groups, Mexico City’s government, and the bike mayors from Amsterdam and Sydney.
The position doesn’t confer any formal power, but it doesn’t mean that Carreón won’t be able to make an impact.
What are key bike points for Bike Mayor Areli Carreón?
“Mexico City is a city that has already incorporated cycling in many ways,” she says. “It has completely transformed the face of the city, the urban logic of the city center.” However, twenty years ago, when she started as a cycling activist, she saw a very different culture. “People used to make fun of us,” says Carreón. “They’d say, ‘why do you want to ride on the street? Why don’t you ride around the park?’”
Since its founding in 1998, Carreón’s organization, Bicitekas A.C., has promoted cycling through community rides and by lobbying for public policies. Their campaigns seek to raise awareness of cycling and the environment. According to Carreón, Biciteka “is the oldest organization that has lobbied for cycling in Mexico City.”
From blockades and protests to speeches and reports, Carreón has attempted to influence public opinion and city leadership in every way possible, including the production of the Urban Cyclist Manuel, the first comprehensive guide for cyclists in the city, and the first of its kind in Latin America. “We did workshops, led courses, put on parties, created art pieces and videos for museums. We have 20 years of innovation under our belts. We’ve tried by all possible means to convince, encourage, and promote this idea that we must move by different means,” she says. “But it took 20 years for city authorities to look at cycling as more than just a pastime.”
What is a ‘bike mayor’?
The concept of the bicycle mayor began in 2016 with a proposal from the Dutch nonprofit CycleSpace to create a global network of activists that could promote cycling at the international level. In an online election in June, 2016, Anna Luten was chosen as Amsterdam’s first bicycle mayor. But, some asked, did a city already well-known for being bike-friendly really need another promoter?
At the opposite end is Mexico City. Although it has achieved a “radical” change in culture, according to Carreón, and many infrastructural changes for its cyclists, extreme pollution and congestion are hurdles to it becoming a truly bike-friendly city.
Looking forward
As she settles into her position, Carreón hopes to facilitate broad participation in urban planning. Beyond seeing an increasing in bike lanes and safety precautions for cyclists, she also wants to invite community members to share their visions.
As her role continues to take shape, two other bike mayors—Amsterdam’s Anna Luten and Sydney’s Sarah H. Imm—will meet with Carreón.
Although it remains to be seen what authority the bicycle mayor position will afford her, Carreón will likely continue to do the work she’s spent her entire life doing. “Biking has transformed the city into a laboratory of possibilities. It’s awakened our collective imagination and made us assert our needs as members of a society,” she says. “Exactly what this can lead to, I’m not sure. But it’s exciting.”
This week I’ve been working on my PhD Ethics Application for my PhD. As I do this, there have been two international dates that have individually been very important, but collectively add gravity to my Ethics Application. This has caused me to reflect deeper than usual in light of work I’m now doing around ethics, benevolence and risk.
Two key dates
Internationally, World Teachers’ Day was held on 5 October.
Celebrated in more than 100 countries world-wide, World Teachers’ Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1994 to recognise the role of teachers in society.
Last year on in Instagram for World Teachers Day, I celebrated the wonderful guidance, work and role that Dr Richard Johnson had for me in my decision to go into teaching.
Then, on 11th October, it was International Day of the Girl Child.
International Day of the Girl recognises the unique challenges that face girls globally and the enormous potential for change girls possess. So the main aims of the day are to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfilment of their human rights while also highlighting the challenges that girls all over the world face.
In the midst of these two major international commemorations and working on my Ethics Application – it is Malala Yousafzai who keeps popping into my head.
Malala – teachers, girls, rights and education
For me, Malala is the common thread the weaves these three events together and directly links them to my PhD. I can’t decide if she is an archetype, hero or champion (or all three) – but I know that she is the perfect embodiment of all the issues, pressures, challenges and dynamics my research is looking at.
My PhD explores NGOs that donate bicycles to rural African girls for greater access to secondary school. So, I read a lot about education, teachers, schooling in rural areas of developing countries, the feminisation of poverty, sociocultural barriers to girls’ education, gender equity and other local and inter/national geo-political issues.
Most people have heard of Malala.
Malala’s father was a teacher at an all-girls’ school in Pakistan. In 2008, the Taliban forcibly closed down their school. Malala publicly spoke out about the rights how girls have the right to an education – she was 11. She was shot in the face as retaliation. After being moved to the UK for her recovery and for safety, she continued to speak out for girls’ education.
She received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014 and was the youngest-ever Nobel laureate. She continues her advocacy and activism work. She travels to many countries to meet girls fighting poverty, wars, child marriage and gender discrimination to go to school. She has spoken at UN National Assemblies and internationally and established the Malala Fund which invests in developing country educators and activists, like her father, through Malala Fund’s Gulmakai Network.
I feel very humbled and inspired by Malala’s story, courage and persistence. She is a remarkable role model, advocate, change agent and activist. I have always been incredibly grateful for having the privilege to undertake my PhD. It is also a way
And on weeks like this one, Malala is a reminder of how important it is to continue and intensify the efforts for girls education.
Post-Sydney conference has been busy with the final teaching week of Trimester 2 which means saying good-bye to classes and completing final assessment marking (*PHEW!*). On the PhD front, I’ve been working on my Ethics Application and putting together a Continuing Scholarship application to go full-time starting next year. During research, I found the below article about Nigerian bicycle decoration in a journal called Africa Arts. It is a blast from the past (1999), but I was delighted to see art bikes being featured in research literature. It gave me hope for academia …and a few ideas for a possible journal article! Below are a few of the more interesting creative highlights from the article. Enjoy! NG.
This week I was stoked to find this article:
Renne, E., & Usman, D. (1999). Bicycle Decoration and Everyday Aesthetics in Northern Nigeria. African Arts,32(2), 46-92. doi: 10.2307/3337602.
This article starts with a discussion about “the dichotomy perceived to exist between objects considered to be every-day items and those considered to be traditional artworks is artificial in the Northern Nigerian context” (p. 46) and was written to probe the “continuity between the refined and intensified forms of experience that are works of art and the everyday events, doings, and sufferings” (Dewey 1934 p. 3).
Ultimately, the aim of this paper is to explore how the decoration of bicycles and the display of other everyday things in Northern Nigeria reflect an aesthetic process whereby the artist’s technical mastery of materials and creative innovation evokes a pleasurable response in the viewer.
Bicycle Decoration in Northern Nigeria
Essentially, there are two main ways locals Zaria and Jos (Northern Nigeria) decorate their bike:
1. Traditional decoration (has 3 steps)
Step 1: Cloth or paper is used to cover the frame of the bike. Cloth is more expensive, but is washable.
Step 2: The frame is then painted usually in two contrasting colours.
Step 3: Decorative accessories are used for embellishments. These include handlebar tassels, mudguard decorations, fringed seat covers and pedals, plastic flowers and stickers.
2. Stickers only (new style)
Increasingly, coloured and metallic stickers are being used to completely cover the bike. The advantage here is that Day-Glo stickers can be incorporated into the design for increased night riding safety.
It should be noted that when the authors talk about ‘stickers’, they are referring mainly to sticky tape and vinyl/plastic type adhesive stickers (see picture below). The colours and designs of the stickers strongly reflect the local cultural aesthetic – which is best seen incorporated into the local architecture.
Given that this article was published in 1999, there was little access and variety to what we know as ‘stickers’ today. Even so, the idea of covering a bike in stickers still works, especially considering sticker today express messages individually, as well as en masse. So great thought could be applied to the placement, arrangement, colour and the overall message that the owner wants to convey if they were using today’s vast array of sticker types.
Creative take-aways
I found this study interesting as it was focused on the skill of art and craft as a specific cultural signifier – whilst equally emphasising the everyday practicality of bicycles (used as tools, objects and transportation) as being something that is both beautify and functional.
There were a few design, aesthetics and creative approaches to embellishing objects (such as bikes) that were particularly interesting, for example, the concepts of:
conveying a feeling of balance, but not necessarily symmetry
creating a sense of balance amidst uncertainly
fusing material and ideas through technical aptitude
Gell’s (1992) observation that “the awe inspired by the unimaginable technological transformation of materials is akin to being charmed or enchantment” – suggesting an almost magical, anthropomorphic quality to the bicycle designs
that unity in design is temporary
Bamana carver-sculptor have a spirit-mentor to guide their practice and need to show technical aptitude as well as visual imagination to be successful
I also love the idea that bike artists can pursue an ‘aesthetic impulse’ and in decorating a bike there are opportunities for ‘resistance’, such as “striving for discontinuity and disorder”, “novelty in action” and expressing a “greater range and depth of insight and increase poignancy in feeling”.
A bit of cultural context
In Northern Nigeria where this study took place, bicycles are ubiquitous.
They are commonly are associated with long-distance trading and with ritual practices that express certain social (brides ride the handlebars of their grooms bicycles to go to their husband’s houses), psychological (unsafe riding in rural villages suggests mental health issues) and/or literary (bicycles feature in well-known poetry) and political (bicycles were used in a range of political demonstrations) in states.
In the local language, the term kaya is described as an “invaluable word [that] can be used to mean almost anything”, although it may be loosely translated as”load” or as objects related to a certain activity. Thus, just as kayan doki refers to articles associated with horses (doki), kayan keke refers to decorative things associated with bicycles (keke). In the past bicycles have been referred to as dokin k’arfe – or ‘horse of iron’ – which I think it quite apt!
Renne, E., & Usman, D. (1999). Bicycle Decoration and Everyday Aesthetics in Northern Nigeria. African Arts,32(2), 46-92. doi: 10.2307/3337602.
The English Australia conference closed a few days ago. But I’ve stayed on in Sydney for some meetings, site visitations and to see family and friends. One meeting, in particular, I have been really looking forward to was with World Bicycle Relief’s Development Director Australia, Dagmar Geiger.
I was very excited to hear last year in May 2017, that WBR was opening a Sydney office.
Regular readers of this blog would be familiar with other posts I’ve uploaded about WBR’s bicycles-for-education programs – and this meeting was a great opportunity to chat with Dagmar in more detail.
World Bicycle Relief Australia – Meeting Dagmar Geiger
We met in a funky Newtown cafe and hit it off immediately.
Dagmar’s enthusiasm and passion for her work are obvious.
She is effervescent and thoughtful – and has a seemingly limitless amount of energy. Dagmar was also very interested in my blog, projects and PhD research and offered to help out where possible – which was so lovely!
We discussed WBR programs and how they are making positive changes in education, healthcare and income-generation opportunities. We also chatted about some events and fundraising efforts she has done.
It was especially interesting to hear about the stakeholder trip she took when she first started. On this trip to Africa, she got to experience first-hand the places, people and projects she now advocates.
It was lovely to be able to chat with a like-minded person who loves bikes and community building as much as I do.
It was a delight to meet Dagmar and hear what WBR has been working on. We need more people like Dagmar sharing stories of bicycles and the positive community impacts they make.
Spreading the word
Since starting her role, Dagmar has been working hard to raise the profile and networks for WBR in Australia and has had a number of high-profile successes including:
In February, retired pro-cyclist Carlee Taylor XXI Commonwealth Games and Junior World Champion pro cyclist Alex Manly, and Olympian BMX pro rider Lauren Reynolds were announced as the first Australian Pro Althele WBR ambassadors.
I am very excited about the possibility of Dagmar visiting Brisbane.
As cyclists and riders, we inherently know how important, useful and significant bikes are. It is also humbling to hear about different experiences and contexts where bikes are helping individuals and communities conquer the challenge of poverty and distance to achieve independence and increase livelihoods.
World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief aims to mobilize people through the Power of Bicycles. They envision a world where distance is no longer a barrier to necessary services like education, healthcare and economic opportunity and are working towards increasing access and equity.
Since 2005, World Bicycle Relief has delivered over 400,000 bicycles and trained over 1, 900 bicycle mechanics and has changed over 1.7 million lives.